Attending the SOA this year were Irene Cisco, sister to Sister Phyllis Kelleher; Mary Pat Murphy, OP; Pauline Igoe, OP; Roseanne Cordova, OP; Kathleen O’Connor, OPA; Phyllis Kelleher, OP; and Patricia Hoppa, OPA.

Five Tacoma Dominican sisters and associates and two friends traveled to Columbus, Georgia, for the annual SOA Watch vigil and protest at the gates of Fort Benning military base. The Tacoma Dominicans have participated in this November event yearly—some for more than 13 years. We walked side by side with 10,000 strong, including many young college and high school students and many Dominicans from our various sister congregations.

The group participated in many activities and events including the Pax Christi USA presentation with Bishop Tom Gumbleton of Detroit, the Non-Violence Training Workshop, and two days of vigils at the gates of the base with speakers from many Latin American countries. On the final day, we re-enacted a funeral procession, and listened to the reading of the names of the deceased and the disappeared. After each group of names, we sing “Presente.”

This year’s vigil included many remembrances of the four women martyrs of El Salvador. This was a significant experience for one of our associates, Kathleen O’Connor. Kathleen traveled with associate Heidi Erdmann to El Salvador this past summer to participate in a pilgrimage directed by the GATE Foundation. From that experience they have been busy this fall sharing their experience with many parish and school groups as well as several Tacoma Dominican groups.

During the rest of the year they are busy urging citizens to contact their Congressional leaders to support the bill introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and signed by 49 other representatives to close the School of the Americas, renamed WHINSEC (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.) For more information, visit SOA Watch online.